70 - Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps To Being Happy from the Inside Out; Marci Shimoff

Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, Marci Shimoff is an audio book that arrive recently from Paperback Swap.

“According to the World Health Organization, the year 2020 will see depression become second only to heart disease in terms of the global burden of illness”................I was shocked by this statistic, and was anxious to learn more. The book combines research studies with the case histories and practices of many individuals and cultures

Studies show that each of us has a "happiness set point" (a fixed range of happiness we tend to return to throughout our life; approximately 50 percent genetic and 50 percent learned). Surprisingly you can actually raise your happiness set-point.

The 7 – Step Plan to boost one's happiness level and provide more satisfaction and control in every part of life:

1. Take ownership of your happiness--accept that being happy is up to you; take responsibility for the way in which you respond to events.
2. Don't believe everything you think--"Your thoughts aren't always true." Scientific research shows that the brain can be changed with new thoughts.
3. Let love lead--negative emotions cause heart rhythm incoherence; positive emotions (love) make for smooth heart rhythms (the mind affects the body).
4. Make your cells happy (how what we eat, how we move, breathe, and rest affects the brain's chemical production, thus affecting happiness. Stress and toxins are negatives).
5. Plug yourself in to spirit
6. Live a life inspired by purpose
7. Cultivate nourishing relationships

A holistic 7-step program at the heart of Happy for No Reason encompasses happiness habits for all areas of life: personal power, mind, heart, body, soul, purpose, and relationships. The author provides some very specific techniques and exercises to help you get over anything that may be standing in the way of your happiness.

I really thought this book was interesting and informative. The author seemed to make a lot of sense. Although genetics does plan a part in happiness, behaviors and responses to situations can be changed by the individual.

I do wish that I had had the print version instead or the audio book, as there are some exercises throughout the book that would have been easier to think about and respond at ones leisure.

RATING – 4/5 – COMPLETED – 5/16/09

WHERE FROM: My Stacks